Titanfall - False Peace
by EthanGrievous
Summary: James Ice has lived a peaceful life with his wife, Emily, and his son, Richard. All was normal until one day James is drafted into the IMC. At first, everything seems well, until James discovers the IMC's idea of "peace" is much different than his own. (Takes place during and after Titanfall campaign; rated T for violence and some language)
1. Summoned

James Ice awoke early in the morning and headed downstairs. His wife, Emily, was already cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast, while his 2-year-old son, Richard, was sitting in front of the TV playing with his building blocks.

He walked over to Emily and kissed her on the cheek, smiling. She smiled back and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning," James replied.

James and his family led a simple life, with James working in retail and Emily working as a kindergarten teacher at the local elementary school. Today, they both were off work, so they decided to spend the day relaxing at home.

James decided to sit on the couch and read the local news on his holographic tablet.

"IMC continues to crush Militia forces looking to cause trouble on the Frontier" read the latest headline. It was the same news everyday.

"When will these Militia guys give up?" James thought to himself. The IMC would continue to spread peace throughout the Frontier, and he liked it that way. Luckily, James lived on Earth, which had not seen war for decades.

"Honey, breakfast is ready!" Emily called. James went over and sat down to eat with his wife. She was a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

James readily devoured the delicious eggs in a matter of minutes. After he washed his plate, he went upstairs and got dressed. "I'm going to head off to the gym. I'll be back in an hour or two," he said when he got back downstairs.

"Okay, have fun!" Emily said.

James opened the door only to see two men in suits. One had a clipboard and the other was holding a small device that James had not seen before.

"Are you James Ice?" the one with the device asked in a monotone.

Emily walked over behind her husband. "What's going on?" she asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Please save your questions for later. Are we at the residence of James Ice?" the man asked again.

"Y-yes, I'm James Ice," James stuttered. "Have I done something wrong?"

Emily picked up Richard and brought him upstairs.

"No, sir. You have been drafted to join the IMC. You have thirty minutes to pack your belongings and say your goodbyes."

James's heart sank. Although he admired the IMC, the horrors of war had discouraged him from applying. "There must be a mistake, I -"

"Sir, failure to comply will result in imprisonment."

Emily came back downstairs. "James, what is it?"

"I've...been drafted."

Emily cried out in dismay and clung to James's arm. "He can't go! He can't!"

"Ma'am, if your husband has been drafted, he must go."

The whole world seemed to slow down. James looked down at Emily, who was whimpering and crying.

"Thirty minutes."

James waved his final goodbyes to a crying Emily and Richard as he got into the car. He couldn't believe this had happened to him. Everything was going so well. How would Emily get by without him? Her salary as a teacher was hardly something to be proud of.

He opened his mouth to ask a question, but quickly closed it. At least he was on the good side.


	2. Training

Soon the car arrived at what looked to be a small airport. There were multiple shuttles around the building, and some were preparing for takeoff.

"What are those shuttles?" James asked.

"Those are dropships. They'll be your main source of transportation on the Frontier," one of the suited men responded.

James gulped as the men led him into the building. They brought him into a room with about ten other men who were seated.

"Wait in here until the doctor comes to give you a physical." With that, the suited men were gone.

The rest of the men in the room looked to be in their early thirties, about the same age as James, who was 31. After a couple minutes, a tall man in a lab coat entered the room.

"Alright, welcome to the IMC, who's excited!?" the doctor said.

_He's treating us like children_, James thought to himself. The room was silent.

"That's quite alright, every new recruit has the jitters. If you all don't mind I'm going to go around and give you each a physical, just to make sure you're in good shape to fight the insurgents, also known as the Militia!"

As the doctor went around to each recruit, James thought of Emily and Richard. How were they coping now? Hopefully his service in the IMC would give them some income. And soldiers were allowed to leave after they turned 35, which was the oldest age put into the draft. Only four more years.

"Alright sir, I'm going to test your reflexes," the doctor said as he got to James.

* * *

The next day, James was assigned to a company. He looked around to see if he could find anyone he knew that had also been drafted, but his attempts were in vain.

"Hey, I heard you were drafted," a voice said from behind him.

James turned around to see an African-American man who looked to be the same age as him. He was neatly shaven and had a clean look to his face.

"Yeah, were you?" James replied.

"Yeah. They took me away from my wife and kids. God knows what they're doing now," the man said solemnly. "The name's Cliff Jones." Cliff shook James' hand.

"James Ice."

"Alright ladies, listen up!" came a Scottish accent. A man entered the room. He was a bit short, but what he lacked in height he made up for in brawn. He had short, blonde hair and a small beard. "My name is Sergeant Blisk, and I'm here to prepare you for the Frontier. Today will start you five months of training! These next five months will be the most painful experience you've ever been through. But if you make it out alive, you will have proven that you have what it takes to join the ranks of the IMC!" Blisk said. "Now saddle up. It's time to see if you have what it takes."

* * *

FIVE MONTHS LATER - OCTOBER 2438

After five long, hard, grueling months of training, James had finally gotten the hang of battle. He had learned the ins and outs of every weapon, ordinance, and kit. His personal favorite weapon was the Spitfire LMG, as he had learned to control its often unpredictable recoil.

On the final day of training, all the recruits in James' company were sat down in a large room with a small stage at the front.

"What do you think it'll be like on the frontier?" Cliff asked.

"I honestly have no idea. I just know that I'm ready to kick the Militia's ass," James replied, chuckling.

Cliff started laughing. "Hey, look at that!" he gasped. He pointed to the back of the room, where a robot was entering. It was tall, skinny, and light blue. It proceeded to walk up onto the stage.

"Hello, graduates," it said in a low, male voice. "My name is Spyglass. I'd like to congratulate you all on making it through you training."

Cheers erupted throughout the room. When it quieted down, Spyglass continued.

"That being said, even your training may not fully prepare you for what you will encounter on the Frontier. You will see beasts of unbelievable size, some of which will make an attempt to take your life. You will see giant armored robots that would like nothing more than to kill you. And above all, you will see your fellow man die. Look around you."

James looked around at the other soldiers in the company.

"According to statistics, 61% of you will not make it through your first year on the Frontier. 57% will be killed. The other 4% will go AWOL," Spyglass said.

James suddenly was overcome by the dread he had felt on the day he had been drafted. What if he never saw Emily or Richard again?

"However, those of you who do make it out alive will be given the upmost respect from your community, and you will live on to know that you helped secure peace in the Frontier. Now, if you will all follow me, I will lead you to your dropships. Your journey to the Frontier begins now."

* * *

**I'd like to thank you all for the positive reviews I've had so far. One of you had a question about why James was chosen to join the IMC, and this is because (in my story at least) at a certain age, men are required to sign up for the draft. Through a lottery process, people are randomly chosen, and if your name is chosen, you are forced to join the military.**

**Anyway, keep providing feedback, and I'll see you guys next chapter!**


	3. The Refueling Raid

James readied his Spitfire as the Goblin dropship ended its jump out of orbit. Cliff did the same with his R101C Carbine.

Vice Admiral Graves walked out of the cockpit and into the main section of the dropship. James, Cliff, and the four other pilots onboard saluted.

"At ease," Graves said. "In space, fuel is life, and the Militia fleet is running low. Only seven planets in the Yuma system can replenish a fleet of that size. This is one of them." Graves pointed at a turret, "We've set up turrets, like this one, just in case the Militia decide to pay a visit. That's Charlie, this one's Bravo," he continued, pointing to two more turrets. "Bravo. Gimme a sit-rep." The turret's guns swung out into a ready position.

"Turret online and operational sir," a voice said.

"Vice Admiral Graves, Zulu Three shows multiple jump signatures three clicks out," another voice said.

Graves glared. "Blisk, tell Riggs to get his squad on the deck now."

Suddenly, multiple goblins rocketed overhead. The Militia.

"Sir, our forces have assembled at rally point Alpha," Blisk said.

"Pilots, today you have a chance to establish peace on the Frontier. Make it count!" Graves exclaimed.

James, Cliff, and the other pilots jumped out to be met by an Atlas titan.

"All Pilots, secure hardpoints Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie! The rest of you on me!" he yelled. "We gotta secure the hardpoints and neutralize all hostiles! Move out!"

Suddenly, Blisk appeared in a view box on the top right of James's HUD. "All ground forces, secure the hardpoints," Blisk ordered.

"This is where the fun begins," Cliff laughed.

James smiled and followed the rest of the squad down a small pathway. Militia grunts swarmed an open area, and were easily gunned down.

Suddenly, there was an explosion a couple feet away from James. When the smoke cleared, he saw one of his fellow pilots was dead, his mangled corpse sitting at an odd angle against a rock. His face was unrecognizable - blood and bits of bone everywhere. James never wished to see that image again.

"JAMES! Come on, we have to get to cover!" Cliff yelled.

James looked away from the corpse. "What was that?"

"Satchel charge! Now come on, let's follow the rest of our squad!"

They ran to a small building protruding out of the ground. "Friendly pilot incoming!" a grunt said.

James nodded at him and checked his radar for enemies. He watched in awe as the captain of their squad, in a titan, furiously shot at an enemy Stryder. He seemed to have the upper hand, until another pilot rodeoed him. James gasped and killed the pilot, who fell to the ground and was crushed beneath the captain's feet.

However, the damage had been done. The titan was doomed. The captain tried to eject, but before he could the enemy Stryder grabbed him from the cockpit. James looked away just before the Stryder squeezed the captain to death with its tiny metal hand. James felt blood spatter across his face.

"Cliff! I'm going after that titan!" he yelled.

Cliff looked back at him, shooting off a couple grunts. "Are you crazy!? That's suicide!"

"Cover me!" James ordered, and made a mad dash for the Stryder. Cliff groaned and started firing at any enemy that tried to shoot James.

Sweat pouring down his face, James clumsily jumped onto the enemy Stryder's hull. However, he failed to get a proper footing and slipped off, right into the path of the titan. He desperately tried shooting at the rapidly advancing machine, but he was going to be crushed beneath the metal giant's feet.

At the last second, Cliff managed to distract it with a shot from his Charge Rifle. The Stryder turned, allowing James to once again jump on, this time getting a proper footing. He ripped off a panel to reveal wiring. _This looks important_, he thought. He fired at the wiring until finally, there was a large explosion and he was thrown off.

After the ringing in his ears stopped and he managed to reorient himself, James cheered. He had taken down his first titan!

"Nice job, pilot, but remember your objective!" Blisk grunted through James's headset. James nodded and ran to regroup with Cliff.

"That was awesome!" Cliff said excitedly. "Now come on, let's get those hardpoints!" They both ran to the first turret, Alpha. Easily killing the grunts in the area, Cliff sat down at the hardpoint. "Cover me while I patch in Blisk," he said to James.

"3, 2, 1, done!"

"All units be advised - the turrets are online for alpha, and the Redeye is taking major damage!" Blisk said. Soon, another part of the team captured Bravo.

"Come one let's get to Char-AGH!" Cliff yelled as a bullet pierced his shoulder.

James gasped and wildly fired at the enemy pilot advancing on their position. He would never forget the sight of his bullets ripping through his enemy's flesh, spattering his blood against the wall. The pilot crumpled to the ground.

Was this really who James was supposed to be? A murderer? He snapped back to reality and ran over to assist Cliff.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just a flesh wound," Cliff replied, rotating his wounded arm. "Come on, let's go."

The two ran to secure hardpoint Charlie, dodging hails of bullets raining down on them.

"Pilot, your titan is online. Signal when ready," Spyglass said through James's com. James did the signal, and soon his titan dropped down - a Stryder equipped with an XO-16 Chaingun and cluster missile - just the way James liked it.

"Get to the hardpoint! I'll cover you!" James yelled to Cliff.

Luckily, hardpoint Charlie was in a large building where James could fit his titan. He jumped in and followed Cliff, shooting down any enemy that dared attack him.

"Warning - enemy titanfall detected," a feminine voice said inside his cockpit. Suddenly, another Stryder landed just feet away from James - any closer and he would have been crushed.

A pilot desperately ran and jumped into the titan, which was equipped with a 40 mm cannon. Immediately, James fired his cluster missile, taking out his enemy's shields and part of its hull integrity.

"Attention all pilots, we have captured all the hardpoints and the Redeye is taking massive damage!" Blisk said.

James ran at the enemy titan, punching it squarely in the nose. However, it quickly started firing its weapon, which packed more of a punch than James had expected. He cried out in pain as his head was slammed against his viewport. Noticing his cluster missile was refilled, he fired it at his enemy.

"Warning - multiple titans engaging," the feminine voice said. James jumped as he was hit from behind by a rocket. He turned around to see an ogre advancing on his position. He doomed the Stryder and watched as it exploded and the ejecting pilot, failing to anticipate his landing, fell off the nearby cliff.

Now for the ogre. James fired his cluster missile, but it only took down the shields. He quickly fired his chaingun, but the ogre was firing multiple projectiles from its quad rocket. James new it was useless. His titan was shortly doomed, but the battle wasn't over yet. He lured the ogre out into an open space and dashed over. Before the enemy titan could terminate him, he ejected, exploding the ogre. He landed next to Cliff, who was punching the air in joy.

"We won! Now we just have to stop the Militia before they get to their dropship!" he exclaimed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James laughed.

They both ran toward the enemy evac point.

"Hmph, we didn't even kill half their fleet. 54 ships destroyed. That's it," came the voice of Blisk.

"How many of those ships were civilian?" Graves asked.

"Today's civilians are tomorrow's Militia, sir. What do you want me to do? Wait?" Blisk said gruffly. James cringed.

"Start a search. I want that fleet found. Graves out."

"Focus, James! The dropship is arriving in 5 seconds!" Cliff yelled. He gunned down an enemy pilot.

The enemy dropship landed close by, and a pilot managed to jump on. After a couple seconds, the dropship was gone.

The end of James's first mission in the IMC.


End file.
